The Lower Ranks
by jlandz09
Summary: They are called the Lower Ranks. They can't firebend, but who is their just as deadly leader? And more importantly, who is working for him? Season 3 adventure story with swordfights, two OCs, and a huge metal stronghold.
1. Part 1: Sokka Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar...Avatar owns all.

Here's my first story. Not much to say other than I'm relatively new to the writing scene, but I perform singing and acting and pretty much everything else already, so don't be afraid to let me have it on the criticism. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. (I'd especially like anything as far as things that I might be doing wrong on this specific site to be noted as well because I want to make sure that I'm operating on the same page as everyone else on this site.)

Chapter 1

He slowly opened one eye, and then the other, as was routine. He woke up to many feelings that morning. Tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty, wet…

"Wet?" he thought. "Why do I always wake up wet? Why is it always me?" He then turned to Momo, "WHY CAN'T YOU GET WET!!" he yelped.

Sokka carried on for a few minutes trying to reason out how he could have possible drooled enough in his sleep to create the overbearingly moist feeling in his shirt, until he heard laughter behind an odd-shaped rock.

It wasn't even correct to call it odd-shaped because rocks are naturally oddly shaped and not straight, contrary to the boulder his eyes were presently set upon. It was still early and his mind was working at a slower pace than normal, which explains the five minutes of trying to remember where he had seen a rock like this one before.

Finally, by the time he realized that this could be nothing other than a devious act by his traveling partner Toph who's masterful earth-bending gives way to such perfectly straight boulders such as the one he was currently gazing at.

However, as surely as the sun will rise over the wide rolling pastures of the Earth Kingdom tomorrow morning, the culprits (Toph, Aang, and Katara) had already long since made an escape and covered their tracks.

After realizing the overwhelming duping that had just been laid upon him, Sokka set off on his daily tasks.

First, there was the most unpredictable job of his, hunting their daily meal.

Now, for Sokka, this could sometimes be more of a challenging task than it would be for, well…any other person, because Sokka lacked something that most people have some form of; any kind of understanding of the world around him or her. He would wonder around for hours sometimes before even realizing that he was wearing shoes that made more noise than was tolerable for proper hunting.

Finally, by the fifth try to take them off, he would always eventually either get them off, or rashly take out his sword and take a nice, deep slice at them in order to create a looser fitting shoe, which always proved to be not only quite useless, but often times painful as well.

Then, once the shoe problem was solved, he still had trouble finding food. Well, this is not entirely correct. Sokka never had any problem finding honey, or dead carcasses of long since passed rabbit-swine.

However, unfortunately for poor Sokka, this food was already claimed by various types of dog-bees or porcupossom, whom would leave their various marks on him to show their disapproval of his attempted theft of their daily nutrition.

Eventually though, Sokka would always find a nice stream to settle down and catch a few turtle-fish for his traveling companions.

This is not to imply that Sokka disliked fishing. It actually happened to be one of his favorite things to do on his own time. But the problem with turtle-fish is, well, the problems with the turtle-fish include the fact that to cook any meat, the animal itself must first be gutted and cleaned.

But, deshelling turtle-fish is not a job for the faint at heart, especially the faint at heart with a big knife, as Sokka also learned on several different occasions.

However, once he got past all of the scars, the profuse bleeding, and the worst part; crying to his sister for a quick heal; turtle-fish not only had the skimpiest assortment of meat of all of the in-season game, but also the most unfavorable taste. Appa, Sokka's and the rest of his companions' mode of transportation (he was a flying bison), would sometimes create cyclones in mere seconds at the horrendous smell of the meat.

All things considered however, Sokka was the only source of food coming into their bellies, so the Gaang (as they called themselves) decided not to complain too much about the lack of a desirable meal.

This is not to say, however, that the rest of the Gaang let him off the hook from their daily assortment of pranks and jokes. Yes, as it seemed, poor Sokka had the worst of it.


	2. Part 1: Sokka Chapter 2

Here's chapter two. I decided to go a different direction than I planned and I made this chapter more action packed. Again, don't hold back, I love criticism.

Chapter 2

After breakfast (however late it ended up being), Toph and Katara would whisk Aang away to continue his water-bending and earth-bending training. He was after all the Avatar, and there was no sense running around the world with people like Azula on one's tail and not being as prepared as possible for any combat one might need to know.

However, this bending stuff and moving water and rocks with the mind was a little bit too flashy for the non-bending Sokka (which was how he liked it), so he would go off alone. It was better off that he didn't watch the spectacle anyway since he always eventually became a target, "Why offer myself to them by just sitting and watching? I should at least make it a challenge for them." He would say to himself.

Besides, Toph and Katara would always end up fighting anyway so he didn't want to be dragged in and be forced to agree with Katara, as was apparently a requirement for brothers.

Therefore, with reason on his side, he would volunteer to clean up after breakfast and then make his way toward wherever he ended up going for his daily activities.

Normally, Sokka had a plan as to what he would do for the day, he sometimes even had it scheduled down to the minute exactly how much time it would take for him to complete each task. However, today, he decided that he should just take a day off from everything. No sword training, no extra hunting, no invasion planning, nothing. He decided to just take the day off.

Now, to fully understand what this meant, one has to understand Sokka. Sokka is not the kind of person to take the day off. He has to keep himself busy with something otherwise he usually goes insane with boredom.

One day, Sokka tried to take a five minute break from his planning, but the moment he stepped away from his maps, he saw a white hawk fly overhead and was so stunned by its magnificent flight that he stopped and stared at its beauty and watched it until it flew into what appeared to be a large rock.

Overcome with curiosity, he flew over on Appa to the rock to find that the rock was actually a large cave full of the white hawks with several nests completely stocked with eggs. Immediately, he set to removing one egg from each nest into Appa's saddle for the trip back to camp, still leaving plenty of eggs for the nesting hawks.

On his way back to camp, Sokka looked down and realized that he was over a large pond with strange trees sprouting up in the middle. He swooped down to see exactly what was in the pond when suddenly, a hippo-gator lunged up at the low-flying Appa and Sokka leaving a nasty gash in Appa's flesh. Appa jerked back knocking all of the eggs out of his saddle, which Sokka had forgotten to secure, and the eggs fell right into the hippo-gator's mouth.

Sokka raced Appa back to camp and sprinted toward his sister calling for her to come quickly and bring plenty of water. Sokka never ceased to be amazed at Katara's healing abilities. She first discovered her powers after being accidentally burned by Aang when he first tried to fire-bend. Instinctively, she ran to a nearby river and plunged her hands in to merely cool them off. After about 20 seconds, her hands started glowing, and long story short, she discovered that she could heal with her water-bending. Aang had long since given up on his quest to fire-bend, but Katara had rapidly improved her healing powers and in a matter of ten minutes alone with Appa there was not even a scar to prove he had been injured.

Regardless, the lack of a scar did not erase Katara's memory as to what had happened and proceeded to lecture Sokka on his carelessness with Appa and that he should not go off exploring strange ponds alone. Therefore, his five-minute break turned into a 2 hour saga which produced nothing but distrust from Appa towards Sokka for two weeks.

However, Sokka had decided that he needed a day off and so he commenced to search for a nice shady spot to cool down and sip some leftover breakfast tea for a couple hours.

He eventually found a wonderful spot with a large flat rock to lean against and a wonderful hillside view. He finished his second cup of tea, sat back, and enjoyed the view and the aftertaste of the amazing tea.

The tea was another strange thing as well. The recipe came from the most unlikely person, Toph, who, when asked about how she came upon the amazing recipe and how she even read it in the first place (she was blind), simply responded saying that she met an old man one day who offered her the tea and she would never forget how good the tea tasted. When she was asked who the old man was, she wouldn't comment and quickly and nervously changed the subject to something like the color of the sky, which was ridiculous anyway seeing as she was in fact blind.

Suddenly, Sokka felt an overwhelming sense of heat. He had felt it before many times, like his nights around the campfire, or the less pleasant combat with the likes of Azula and Zuko. He immediately jumped to his feet and looked over the hill, from where he had felt the warm sensation. What he saw shocked him and was a sight he would never forget.

He saw small brown carts with several children who had appeared to be interrupted in the middle of their racing game by about a dozen fire nation troops. He watched as the soldiers dismounted their traveling apparatus, a device that was composed of many metal contraptions and about twenty of what appeared to be seats with glowing pits in front of them and large piles of what looked like coal beside them.

The soldiers marched over to children, who immediately jumped off their carts and stood at attention for the passing soldiers. Sokka could hear little snips of conversation, or what sounded more like insulting proclamations at the children, and a harsh lecture about racing on their silly carts in the middle of a war zone.

Then, suddenly, without warning, one of the broader soldiers reared back and struck one of the smaller boys with the backside of his armor-coated hand. The boy crumpled to the ground, but when his friends started to rush to his aid, the commanding officer, the one who had been speaking previously, reached at his belt and in one swift stroke cracked his whip upon one of the boys who had started toward the boy on the ground.

Sokka weighed his options in his mind. He could race back to camp and hide from the soldiers. He could call Appa and attack the soldiers from above. He could run and find Aang and have him beat the tar out of the soldiers "Avatar-style" as Sokka liked to call it.

But after much deliberation and finally realizing that by the time he got back to camp the soldiers would be long on their way, Sokka reached down and picked up his meteorite sword, which he had forged under the watchful eyes of his masterful swordsman teacher and started his way down the hill.

The soldiers apparently heard his footsteps and quickly turned back and shouted a quick and authoritative order at him. "CEASE APPROACH IMMEDIATELY!" Commander screamed (Sokka had already given him a nickname in his mind). However, Sokka knew that even though he was clearly outnumbered, he was far more skillful with his sword and his combat skill than any of the soldiers so he silently continued approaching.

"CEASE APPROACH IMMDIATELY!" Commander yelped again, more forcefully this time. Sokka continued to silently approach the soldiers. "ARE YOU DEAF YOU STUPID PEASANT?! I TOLD YOU TO CEASE APPROACH!" Sokka continued marching towards them.

Then, with a quick movement, Commander struck out at Sokka with his whip, but Sokka swiftly dodged the crack and used a battle roll that his father had taught him during their recent short meeting. Commander cracked his whip again, and this time managed to wind it around Sokka's foot. However, miraculously, Sokka was still walking, and with a precise swipe of his sword, cut the whip in half and for the moment disabled Commander.

"YOU HAVE ASSAULTED A FIRE NATION COMMANDER!" (Sokka mentally congratulated himself on his accuracy). "YOU ARE TO IMMEDIATELY CEASE ALL RESISTANCE AND PREPARE TO BE TRANSPORTED TO A FIRE NATION FACILITY WHERE YOU WILL AWAIT PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR ACTIONS!"

Then, suddenly, Sokka grabbed his boomerang from his back and gave an accurate throw toward the group of soldiers who had crowded by the group of children and in one throw, completely disabled four of the fourteen soldiers (he had counted them on his way down the hill). Then, with the grace of a swan-dove, and the agility of a leopard-mole, Sokka sprinted toward the six soldiers who had dutifully created a barrier between Sokka and Commander.

The two outside soldiers lunged at Sokka and, with two strokes of his sword; he quickly disengaged them and disarmed their weapons, which had the appearance to be a cross between a truncheon and a wooden club. The remaining four reached for their respective weapons, which Sokka could not decipher the origin or the exact use of, and without warning actually threw them at Sokka. Again using his skillful evasiveness, Sokka was able to dodge all four weapons and effectively deal out punishing blows with one of the truncheon clubs he had earlier disarmed.

During all of this, Commander and his remaining men had jumped aboard their traveling machine and began to do what appeared to Sokka as preparing to leave. Seeing as the soldiers were preparing to flee the area, Sokka rushed to the aid of the two boys who had been picked on by the soldiers, when suddenly, he felt a crushing blow to his right ankle.

He turned around and saw that the soldiers had not been preparing to leave, but had been taking refuge in their contraption and had began to let it do their fighting for them.

Angered at his ignorance, Sokka began evading the rocks flying from the contraption. He was surprised that the earlier blow, which he had deduced to be a very hot rock about the size of a cabbage, had not done very much damage to him at all, and he moved just as effectively as he had been able to earlier when disabling the soldiers.

The closer he got to the contraption, the better idea he had of how it worked. The large commander had his place in the front with a large steering apparatus. Then, the men behind him in their seats would shovel the coal into the pits in front of them to give the contraption power to make it go. Commander also had a large brake to his right that he could pull whenever he needed to stop for something, like ruthlessly beat children.

The one thing Sokka couldn't figure out was where the rocks were coming from that he had learned to dodge when they were coming toward him. Then, he got closer and was able to see a large hole in the back where the rocks were being shot out at him. The problem was that Sokka could not figure out how they could get a launching mechanism packed into the hull of the contraption seeing as how it wasn't that thick to begin with.

He did figure out though, that the projectiles were being heated by the hot coal being shoveled down into the contraption's underbelly. He then realized that the brake must be set because the men had indeed began shoveling coal down into their pits and the rocks were very hot indeed when they came toward him.

Sokka then realized what he had to do, but he only had one shot.

While still dodging rocks Sokka moved the disabled children out of the road and had the other boys move their carts into the same area. He then gathered the children behind him, reared back and threw his boomerang with all his might. He waited and watched as his weapon soared through the air with the whizzing sound that was in fact what had first attracted him to the use of his second favorite weapon, next to his sword.

He watched it as it curved around the path, and made its way closer and closer to the contraption. It then finished its curve and made its way toward the machine, and then Sokka heard a clang, and then an irritable grinding noise, and he knew he had hit his target.

He watched as the horrible contraption started to move toward him, down the path with a continual acceleration. Commander hopped up to his steering device and made mighty efforts to turn the wheels of the contraption in an attempt to slow it down (the brake had not only been disengaged, but disconnected from the contraption and currently lay helplessly on the ground).

However, the cunning wisdom of Sokka had led him to realize that he also had a shot at the inner steering mechanisms as well as the brake, and he took it and his plan worked marvelously. He watched as the contraption reeled helplessly down the path while Commander shouted helpless orders to his men trying to force them to make it stop.

Still, Sokka had a plan for him too.

As the machine continued picking up speed, Sokka started his own sprint in the same direction. Eventually the machine had caught up with Sokka, and was starting to pass him. Then, Sokka was face to face with Commander, who was now shouting mindlessly at his men to take out Sokka. Sokka then took out his sword, looked Commander straight in the eye, and said, "Maybe you should move your cart out of the middle of a war zone."

Then, with all of his might, Sokka swung his sword at the front wheel of the contraption going clean through it causing the wheel to undergo a massive failure. However, Sokka did not stop his stroke short, but he kept on going, right through Commander's heel.

The knick in his tendon caused Commander to be knocked off balance and he was thrown from the contraption as it went steaming off down in the direction of a large river.

Confident that the Commander was alright, Sokka turned back and headed for the children, telling them to go home to their parents and not say one word about what they just saw.

He then called Appa on the bison whistle, who eventually made his way flying over the treetops down to Sokka, who then loaded the two injured boys into the saddle to take them to Katara.


	3. Part 1: Sokka Chapter 3

A/N: This is the last of Part 1, and the end of Sokka's part in this story (for now anyway). I'm not quite sure which one I will focus on next, but I guarantee it will be a bender (gets boos from the crowd.) I also decided to change my story from my "day in the life" theme to an actual story arc that will conclude with something interesting, although I don't know what yet. Anyway, stay tuned afterwards for the ghost chapter/segue to Part 2.

Chapter 3

When he arrived back at camp, Sokka raced to the nearest water hole where his friends were busy training and called for Katara to come quick. Katara had Toph take over with Aang while she went to see what was the matter.

Katara and Sokka arrived back and at camp, at which point Sokka decided it would be a good time to start explaining. After telling Katara the whole story about the children, Commander, the metal contraption, and how he defeated them (quite proudly of course), he led her up onto Appa's saddle.

Katara shrieked when she saw the two children lying unconscious wearing fire nation clothing.

"What is wrong with you?! What do you expect me to do once I heal them? Knock them back out until we get back to the valley?"

"Listen, I know that it was kind of a stupid move to bring them back here, but I didn't know what else to do. I feel a sort of responsibility to them now that I've saved them once. Whether you decide to heal them or not, I'm going to take care of them until they get better and then I'm going to take them back."

"Besides," Sokka added, "you did the same thing for those people back at the lake when you went on your Painted Lady streak; and when I protested, you came back with the same argument I have now, and yet you are still resenting bringing them here."

"That was different Sokka. Those people were dying."

"Who is to say that those soldiers would not have done the same thing if somebody had not stepped in?"

Katara sighed. She knew that Sokka was right, but she still didn't like the idea of helping out people that she didn't even know.

"Listen Sokka. The thing is, we had already come into contact with those people back at the lake. They had already helped us with supplying fish, and I felt a sense of trust about them."

"Yes, but you are forgetting one thing. When you revealed yourself as a water-bender, and Aang revealed himself to be the Avatar, did they resent us and rat us out to the Fire Nation? Or were they grateful for the little bit of help that the received for a change."

Katara sighed even heavier this time. There was no more arguing about it anymore. She knew that Sokka was right, and that what was being asked of her was not unreasonable.

"Fine," she said, "I'll help them."

She then took out her water from her pouch, and set to healing the two boys that lay on the saddle. Five minutes later, both boys opened their eyes, and sat up straight.

"Where are we Mu?" said one boy.

"I don't know Gai, but it sure is soft," said the other.

Katara and Sokka breathed deep, and sat down next to the boys who gasped when they saw Sokka.

"You!" Mu said in a mesmerized tone.

"You saved us!" said Gai, in the same hypnotic voice.

Sokka, then went on to explain exactly what happened after the soldiers had knocked them out, and then asked them if they knew who the soldiers were.

"Yes," said Mu, "they are part of the lower ranks of the Fire Nation army."

"They aren't very useful soldiers and aren't called on very much because they can't fire-bend, and so they like to waste time picking on kids like us," said Gai.

Sokka and the boys conversed for about fifteen minutes before Katara popped up and said that Aang and Toph would be coming back soon, and that Sokka should probably take the boys back home before they got back.

Sokka agreed and told the boys to hang on tight as he grabbed Appa's reins and gave the command, "yip yip." They then took to the skies.

Sokka landed back in the valley where the attack had taken place, and told the boys that he was going to let them off here where they could return to their homes.

"One more thing," Sokka said, "can you promise me that you won't tell anyone about what happened to you today?"

After the boys had convinced Sokka they would keep the Gaang's secret safe, they waved good-bye, and Sokka then took to the skies once more.

Upon returning to camp, Sokka gathered some wood and made a fire to roast some of the leftover turtle-fish on. After dinner, Aang and Toph took to bed early after a long day of earth-bending training while Sokka and Katara cleaned up and sat down next to the fire for a little while.

"You want to know something else really weird?" Sokka asked.

"What?"

"Earlier today, when I was battling that commander guy, I got hit in the ankle by a rock, and I mean, Hit. The thing was the size of a watermelon, and when it hit me it really hurt. But the weird thing is, after the initial hit, I was still able to run and move around without any pain. It was as if I hadn't even been hit.. Do you have any idea why?"

"No," said Katara, "except, maybe…ahhh, never mind, it's crazy."

"No, go ahead and tell me," Sokka said.

"Well, you know Aang's scar on his back right? Well, obviously, I've been working overtime with him trying to get him totally healed up. But the thing is, even though the scar is still there and it's totally obvious that he was hurt there, he doesn't feel anything anymore."

"What do you mean?" asked Sokka.

"Well, for instance. This morning, when you went off to find a shady spot to sit down and rest, Aang and I went down to the river to start training, but first I told him that I wanted to give his back another treatment. He said 'OK', and sat down and faced the river like always. I then grabbed some water and started."

"Well, two minutes later," Katara continued, "he asked me why it was taking me so long to start. Well, you can imagine my reaction and I said 'I've already started, I've been going for a few minutes already.' And then he said, 'Really? I don't even feel a thing.'"

Sokka sat and pondered this as Katara was telling the story, and then he finally got it.

"So you think that the more that you heal someone in a certain area, the less feeling they have there?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know," Katara said, "I mean, I guess that could be it. Let me see your ankle."

Sokka then removed his boot and set his foot on her lap.

"Ugh, take a bath sometime soon please."

"Just look at the foot," Sokka groaned.

"Wow," Katara said, "you have a huge bruise here. Does this hurt?" She flicked the bruise with her fingers.

"No. It doesn't hurt at all. I don't even feel it."

Katara sat and thought about this for a minute, and then said, "I think you're on to something. Come to think of it, I have been healing your foot a lot lately seeing as how you can't seem to find a proper way to adjust your boots without hauling off and hacking your shoe with your sword."

"Hey! Be nice! I could be another Toph and just leave my feet hanging out all the time for everyone to see…and smell."

"Whatever," Katara said. "This is very interesting though, I think we're on to something. I don't really understand it, but I think the next time we get to a water tribe, I'll ask one of the healers about it, and we'll figure it out then. In the meantime, you'll have to be keeping a closer watch on your ankles because the more I have to heal them, the more numb they will get, and someday you might cut them and not even know it."

"Deal," said Sokka.

"Well," he continued, "I've had a long day, doing my helping the little people thing. I'm going to just head off to my mat and get a long night's sleep. We still have some meat leftover, so I won't need to fetch us anything else tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow Sis, good night."

Sokka then got up and started walking toward the tents when suddenly Katara yelled, "WATCH OUT FOR THE…" but it was too late, "fire," she whispered with a slight chuckle under her breath.

Chapter 3.5

Toph awoke with a start as she felt a large thud in the distance. She quickly sped out of her tent and in the direction of the thud she felt. Along the way, she felt another thud in a different direction, and turned quickly to follow the new thud. Suddenly, she felt two more, in opposing directions, causing her to pick one and follow it. She then ceased to feel anymore thuds as she continued speeding towards the last one she felt.

She eventually reached the end of the forest and stopped to catch her breath. Upon stopping, she decided to reach down and take a closer feel of what was going on. She was shocked when she felt strong, yet tired footsteps in the direction of the thud she had been following.

She then began her stride again towards the person until finally, she came within a couple hundred feet of the person. She stopped, and was amazed at the intricate tunnel she felt beneath her feet. She followed it as far as she could feel, when suddenly, she felt the footsteps coming her direction. She froze, not knowing whether to speed off in hopes of outrunning the stranger, or to stick around and find out what exactly was going on.

But before she could decide, the stranger decided for her as he got within fifty feet of her.

"I hope this works," she thought.

"Who are you?" the voice called out.

When she heard the stranger speak, she knew exactly how to play her hand and how to find out everything she needed to know about this stranger she had stumbled upon.

"Excuse me," she whimpered, "I haven't had anything to drink since I left that forest. As you might be able to see, I'm blind, and I've had the hardest time finding water to drink."

"Oh, of course little girl. I can give you a little bit of food too if you want."

"Yes, please," she responded.

"Too easy," she thought.


	4. Part 2: Aang Chapter 4

A/N: I am keeping with my trend of a very short chapter at the beginning of the 'part'. I am really excited to set the rest of my story into action. I have the concept already in my head and I can't wait to figure out how I'm going arrive at it. Oh well, review and enjoy.

Chapter 4

"AGAIN!"

Aang sighed.

"COME ON TWINKLE! GET IT RIGHT! AGAIN!"

Aang planted his feet, reached deep down within his core, and struck forward into the direction of his teacher/drill sergeant (most of the time, there wasn't a difference).

"Missed me again!" said Toph with an un-human grin on her face.

"You know what, I think you've done enough of this set for today," said Katara, his water-bending teacher.

"How about you come with me to the pond. We can try this new move I came up with last night before I went to bed."

Quick as a mole-cheetah, Aang took off in the direction of the little watering hole, leaving Katara and Toph alone before Katara started in the same direction.

Soon enough, Aang was already shirt-less swimming in the middle of the pond, enjoying himself before it was time to begin training again.

Katara finally arrive at the pond with that grin on her face.

Aang had seen this grin many times already in his training. This expression always meant one of two things. Either Katara really did have a good move for Aang to learn, or Katara really did have a good move for Aang, and Sokka was the target.

Aang yelled to Katara, "Over here!" but Katara swiftly hushed him and sat him down beside a big rock, looking over her shoulder.

It was the second one.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aang felt that he had learned his new move pretty well, and was ready for target practice with the always-oblivious Sokka.

Aang had done this many times, so he was not unaware of the inevitable outcome of what was right now, a dry, happy Sokka.

One day, Sokka had just found a massive tree that had fallen in the middle of the forest, and he had set himself to chopping it and transporting it back to camp.

Katara had just taught Aang a new move that, in effect, expanded the water away from itself in a way that more water came out of the spray than there seemed to be present at the beginning of the move.

She had explained to him that she had learned from someone (for some reason, she would not mention whom) about gathering water from the air and using it along with the water already collected.

Aang caught on to the idea immediately and was pulling water out of thin air in no time.

Aang then realized that the time had come to try it on Sokka. He set himself up behind a conveniently placed boulder from Toph (she enjoyed having her hand in these events as well), and gathered himself. As soon as he saw Sokka emerge from the woods, he gathered himself up, twisted in the direction that Katara had shown him, and sprayed the water over the rock until it seemed as though a solitary rain cloud had relieved itself upon poor Sokka.

The three benders of the group (Toph was an earth-bender, Katara was a water-bender, and Aang was the Avatar, capable of bending all four elements) didn't hear an end from Sokka about the ruined firewood for at least a week. Even Appa got sick of it and rejected anything signs of affection from hysteric Sokka.

Aang thought about this as he prepared for his new move. He pondered all of the grief they would inevitably get from Sokka about showing no respect to the provider of the group. All of the guilt he would have for unleashing his powerful bending upon Sokka reeled through his mind.

"Oh well," Aang thought.

Then, with a glimmer in his eyes, he gathered the water with his smooth, flowing water-bending, and then, in what appeared to be an instant, crushed his hands together, subdividing all of the water in his control and sending it in the one critical direction; Sokka's legs.

However, surprisingly, Sokka just continued on his way, as if nothing had just happened.

Aang followed him, and tried again, this time, aiming at the same critical point he had tried before.

Nonetheless, failure accompanied this attempt as well, and Sokka seemed unaware of anything unfortunate that was being attempted upon him.

Frustrated, Aang sent an earth kick his way that popped Sokka into the air, and with all of his might, sent a torrential wave up towards his helpless, traveling companion.

With an ungodly thud, Sokka plummeted, and struck the floor of the forest.

"What the heck!" exclaimed Sokka.

Aang appeared out of the bushes and rushed over to Sokka who was still lying down screeching in his unpleasant way.

"Maybe if you would pretend that something was happening to you, you wouldn't get kicked around as much!" yelled Aang.

"What the heck are you talking about?" asked Sokka. "I was just walking through the woods and then all of a sudden, I'm hurtling through the air and being soaked."

"You mean…you didn't feel anything until you were in the air?"

"No. But I didn't really appreciate that ei…" Aang had already taken off toward camp.

"…ther."


	5. Part 2: Aang Chapter 5

A/N: I don't know if Aang's chapters are uncharacteristically short, of if Sokka's are uncharacteristically long. But, I guess I'll find out after Chapter 6, when it is finished. Please read an review, thank you.

Chapter 5

"Man, I've never had much of a taste for your water tribe food, but this is good stuff!"

"Me either," said Toph, "but you're right Aang, this stuff hits the spot."

"Wow," said Katara, "out of all of the food we've ever had, this is what I least expected you to enjoy."

"Yeah," said Sokka, "you sure you really like it?"

"Yeah," Aang confirmed, "it doesn't look like much, but once it gets into you, it just really opens up a whole other section of taste."

"Wow," repeated Katara. "Well Sokka, perhaps you should fry seal dung again sometime."

From that moment on, Toph and Aang were too scared to try any water tribe food ever again.

Later that night, Aang decided to look over Sokka's travel plans for the next day. He sat down and unfurled the map and set it down upon a rock. But, surprisingly, the map remained unmarked.

To understand why this is so shocking, one must again delve deep into the mind of Sokka.

Sokka was a very strict planner. He always knew when and where the Gaang was planning on heading to next. But, Sokka never was a good one for memories, so he would always make a mark on the maps the group bought so that he didn't spend hours pouring over it trying to remember what he had decided on last time.

This knowledge led Aang to realize that he had grabbed the spare map that was kept in case the original became to cluttered to read.

As he stood up and prepared to go back to grab the other map, Aang got a devious little thought in his brain. He was still upset at his plans being foiled earlier that day when Sokka seemed to be mysteriously unphased by any of Aang's new water-bending moves.

He then went back to camp, but instead of grabbing the real map, Aang grabbed Sokka's pen and ink, and set his plan into action.

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It was early the next morning, and Sokka was already fretting about starting off too late. Aang smiled in his sleep as he thought about the devilish little trick he was pulling.

He got up onto Appa's saddle, took a seat next to Sokka at Appa's head, and prepared to take off. Sokka pulled out his map and began to study it to find the correct direction of travel.

"Let me see it," Aang said.

So, Sokka let Aang take a look at the map, but when Sokka turned for a second to grab one of Appa's reins, Aang pocketed the real map, and took out his map.

Totally oblivious to what was happening, Sokka reached back for the map, and, thinking he was heading in the direction he had planned last night, sent Appa in the direction of the new X Aang had marked on his version of the map.

Still weary from cleaning up after the previous night's dinner, Sokka commenced to climb back into the saddle and doze off along with the rest of the Gaang.

Aang, however, decided to wait up and watch for one of the weird landscape features that he remembered seeing on the map.

Soon enough, Aang spotted one of the strange landmarks he had been watching for, and prepared to announce the landing. He looked behind him, and saw that even Toph, with her uneasiness about air travel had managed to doze off. Aang sighed as he stood up and prepared to awaken everyone.

Then, out of nowhere, a bull-eagle swooped down and grabbed the little air-bender and stole him away from his flying bison. The blow of the flying creature's claws against Aang's head knocked him unconscious as the bird flew far away from the bison.

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The farther into the conscious world Aang journeyed, the more the throbbing pain in his head increased.

"Where am I?" he thought.

He tried to sit up, but banged his head on a very hard surface. Then, he felt a sudden chill that he had felt before, a long time ago.

He then set himself to trying to remember where he had last felt this chill.

"Was it in the mountains during the big storm?" he thought. "Could it have been in the underground Dai Li headquarters? Was it the wind that lazily blew through the swamp?"

Then, suddenly, it all came back to him. He remembered every detail of the night he had last experienced this sensation. There was only one way to find out for sure. He gathered all of his strength and attempted to roll to one side. He hit another surface that seemed all too familiar, which was when he became all too sure of his location.

Well, it wasn't exactly correct to call it his location, he had no idea where in the world he was, but the cold chill that swept over him, the bumpy ride, he knew exactly how he traveling there.

The only thing missing was the lack of the presence of his earth-bending teacher beside him, in a metal box to match.


	6. Part 2: Aang Chapter 6

A/N: Here is the end of part 2. I hope you all have enjoyed everything so far and will continue to read further on into the tales of The Lower Ranks. I've personally been pondering about how to deal out this final hook to the story before delving deeper into the plot, but I think now is the best time. Therefore, it is my pleasure to request for you to read on, and enjoy the surprise ending of Part 2 and the segue into Part 3. Read and review...please?

(as a reminder/disclaimer, I don't own Avatar...Avatar owns all.)

Chapter 6

The next time Aang awoke, he no longer felt the cool draft that he had grown familiar with before falling back asleep in his metal box. He had figured that since he could not bend metal, like Toph, he would go ahead and wait out the journey silently.

However, as Aang was about to find out, waiting was not necessarily the wise choice this time.

He cautiously tried to sit up again, remembering his last futile (and painful) attempts at this apparently difficult feat.

But, it seemed to pose no problem for him this time, seeing as he was no longer traveling in a metal box, but in a metal cage.

Although Aang could not bend metal, he knew that escape from this cage would be no problem, that is, until he felt the floor beneath him tilt to the left.

It was only then that he realized that he was not just traveling in a metal cage, but traveling in a metal cage, on a metal boat.

He thought through his predicament in his mind again, reassessing the situation with his newfound discovery. He knew that if he tried to escape now, there would be no hope for him seeing as how the boat was more than likely far out at sea, traveling toward the Fire Nation at that very moment. But, he also knew that once he was in a Fire Nation prison, he had a lot less chance of even escaping from his cell, let alone an entire prison.

But then, Aang felt a sudden stop, but it was not the kind of stop that he had been expecting. It wasn't a stop that sent him reeling forward, as if Appa had suddenly decelerated and sent Aang flying forward, and it wasn't a stop that made his body shift to the right or left.

This stop sent his momentum downward.

He thought it over, and then he knew; he had let his mind close off to all possibilities. He knew that he shouldn't have, but as soon as he had his mind set on being at sea, he never even thought about any other possible mode of swaying and rocking transportation.

But he knew that he wasn't just getting off some ship.

He then heard a guard unlock the cell door, and come into the room. He used his key to unlock Aang's cage, and violently throw open the door.

The guard then grabbed him by the rope that Aang had just discovered was even there, and led the Avatar down a long, black corridor.

Aang ran through every scenario in his mind.

He could easily disable the guard and then blast his way out. He could wait until he could see daylight, and then let the guards have it. Or, he could wait until he was in his new cell and then try to escape from that.

Suddenly, he realized that at least one of his plans was foiled as the bright light of the sun blasted him in the face with its radiant heat.

Aang decided that it was time to stop thinking about it, and put his best plan into action.

He gathered himself, and jumped up as hard as he could. Once in the air, he leaned forward and kicked backwards into the guard he had brought with him on his upward journey.

Aang then started twisting himself to create one of his fierce cyclones to unleash upon the Fire Nation forces. As he twisted, he caught glimpses of his transport, which was, as he had figured out, a hot-air balloon.

This whole time, though, Aang found himself to be exceedingly surprised at the way the guards responded. He had expected that when he first showed any signs of an escape, the guards would immediately respond with a blast of red-hot fire.

However, this was not the case, and several guards took positions behind large boulders that were conveniently placed at either side of the walkway.

Puzzled, Aang landed himself, and prepared for the inevitable fiery attacks he was about to endure.

Suddenly though, he felt a crushing thud upon his leg, and turned around to see a larger guard jumping him with some sort of weird metal truncheon, or club-like weapon.

He fell to the ground helplessly as the remaining guards jumped on him, further securing all of the ropes that held together the disabled air-bender's body.

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Aang awoke again in another strange place. The room was nice and cool, and he could feel a sense of strange power that seemed to be lurking in the dark corners of the room.

He gathered himself and stood up, realizing that no ropes bound him and the only item on his body that was not an article of clothing was a heavy metal blindfold that he had already quickly discarded and thrown to the side.

He looked around and could see that the room was just as dark as it felt when he couldn't see.

Then, he heard the icy cold voice of the forgotten enemy he thought he'd never have to see again.

"I see you have found yourself stumbling into my way once more Avatar."

Aang turned as a light clicked on and revived Aang's worst nightmares.

"I find your visits more and more irritating as they become more and more frequent."

Aang knew there was no easy way out of his predicament this time. The last time he had faced this monster, he had come so close to losing his dearest friend. However, even Aang knew that this man's longing was no longer for something to hold against the Avatar, but for the Avatar himself.

Aang sighed, as he realized the full weight of the situation he found himself in. He knew what was next, and he knew the dangers he was about to face. But this knowledge did nothing to ease his mind, as he stared into the stone-steady face of Long Feng.

Chapter 6.5

He sat up and looked around.

He had just finished setting up his tent and decided to make a fire as he calmed himself down and rested after his long underground journey.

He knew that this was the first step on his long impending journey. He had escaped, along with the others, but he knew that escape was not an end, but a beginning. He knew somewhat of all the peril he would have to face. He had heard stories from others who had come back after their own personal failed attempts, but he knew that he could not fail. He knew that the fate of all his friends depended on his success at his new mission.

New mission. He had never known any other mission than the one he had always known. But now, he knew that unless he could succeed at his new mission he would have no choice but to face him.

The irony in the situation was hysterical. The one man that he had followed since his induction day, the one man that he had sworn allegiance to, the one man that did everything he could to keep peace and order, had, in one instant, become the one man who had to be avoided at all costs.

"It shouldn't be too hard," he thought, "after all, the last place he would look for any of us is Ba Sin..."

He quickly turned and heard something directly outside of his camp that seemed to be advancing towards him. He immediately got up and went out to find out what it was.

He never finished his thought.


	7. Part 3: Katara Chapter 7

A/N: Here it is, Chapter 7. The first chapter of the Katara section. The more I get into this story, the more I love how much I can twist my original ideas to make them fit the way that I need to work into the story. This chapter and the next at least are prime examples of this, because I had the idea, and I had that set in my mind, but I didn't know how I was going to fit it into my story until I started writing the chapter. And this is what makes it fun for me. I know it is standard to get your ideas mapped out before you begin writing, but this is much more fun. Oh well, that is my little soapbox, and I hope that you read and review with an enthusiastic heart. Enjoy.

Chapter 7

"Well, I circled the whole area on Appa, but I didn't find anything. Not even tracks to mark where they could have taken him," said Katara.

In these days, when somebody went missing, it was just the common assumption that the Fire Nation had swiped him or her. Katara herself had heard many stories from common villagers ever since they had began their journey away from Ba Sing Se.

"Well, the most logical way to think about this would be that they have taken him back to Ba Sing Se," said Sokka, "I mean, ever since Azula claimed the city in the name of the Fire Nation, all I've heard is rumors about prisoners being taken back there."

"The problem is, we have no evidence that he was taken by the Fire Nation. There isn't any of the normal evidence that we commonly see with Fire Nation ambushes," said Katara.

"Yes, but you are forgetting that we have never heard of air ambushes before. There's no way that we would see any traits of the types of ambushes we've seen because we've never seen anything like what happened this morning," countered Sokka.

"But what about the tunnels I felt earlier?" asked Toph, "I felt them right when we landed, but after about five minutes of searching for Aang, they vanished and all I felt was solid earth."

"I know," said Katara, "and I've been thinking about that ever since, but how would earth-benders have anything to do with kidnapping Aang? He's the one trying to liberate them."

"How should I know?" asked Toph, "Is there anyone you guys ticked off that I should probably know about?"

"No. I can't think of anybody that we have offended that could do anything like this. Besides, it was an air kidnapping. Why would they take him from the air, and then bring him back underground? I would think that if it is easy enough to take someone from the air, it should be easy enough to transport them the same way," said Katara.

Sokka then sat down and said, "Well, I can't think of anything right now. If you want to know what I think, I think that Aang can take care of himself and he'll get out of whatever it is he has gotten himself into. He is, after all, the Avatar."

"Fine," said Katara, "let's go ahead and set up camp for the night, and we can wait around here for a little while to see if Aang shows back up. I saw a village not very far away from here, in case we get low on supplies."

"I agree," said Toph, "I don't want to fly around any more than I have to, especially if we don't end up finding him."

"It's settled then," proclaimed Sokka, "We make camp here for the night, and take things one step at a time in the morning."

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Katara stepped through the village gate.

It was a nice little town by a large lake. Plus, it would be perfect for the kind of supplies they would need for their overnight stay.

She walked into the first shop she came to and began browsing around.

She then spotted the food and began to approach those aisles when all of a sudden, she felt a sharp thump on her toe, stumbled forward face-first to the floor, and blacked out.

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Her first sensation when waking up was a cool feeling on her arm. She recognized the feeling immediately and looked over to see the shopkeeper standing over her with a water basin to his side.

"You're a water-bender!" she shouted.

"Shhhh! Fire Nation soldiers outside. They could hear you."

"Sorry."

Within another minute, she was told she could sit up now, and as she did so, she was instructed to try to move her arm. She succeeded.

"Good. You look to be back in perfect condition."

Just then, a loud screeching sound rang through the town and echoed in the small back room of the aged man's shop.

"Oh dear. That is the curfew call, you will have to spend the night here."

After being given an explanation of the village and the rules that were enforced by the Fire Nation, Katara agreed to stay the night and to leave first thing the next day. She told the old man of her intentions in town, and he said that he would be glad to help any friend of the Avatar, especially a fellow water-bender.

She sat up all night talking with the old man about his life, and how he turned out to come down to this little border village. He explained to her about his former life at the North Pole, and how he got involved with some bad business with Fire Nation spies. He told her about his wrongdoings, and how he was banished from the tribe to this little outpost.

"I don't mind it really. I realize that what I did was a mistake, but the time away from home gave me a real chance to think and come to learn many things that I never would have known, had I kept my busy life back at the tribe."

He then told her about his many experiments that he conducted with water, how he himself came to many new realizations about water-bending, and how he taught himself many advanced maneuvers.

"I had to teach myself in the first place, you see, because my rough childhood prevented me from learning under Master Pakku."

"I know the feeling," Katara grunted.

"Anyway, I had to teach myself, and ever since I left, I really began to focus on my bending and I learned many powerful things that I never would have learned under that egotistic big-head back home."

"I did notice that you are the first man I have ever seen that had healing powers."

"Yes, I know. That was one of my many new discoveries that came as a result of the incredible focus I gained by coming here."

Katara could really feel a sense of security listening to this man's stories. He was very wise in his speech, and Katara could tell that he was a very powerful bender just by the aura he gave off when he spoke.

"You seem to really know your water-bending yourself little girl. That's another strange sense I gained during my recent years here. I've found that I can actually tell how good a person's bending is, just by spending some time with them. I haven't quite refined it yet, but I've spent adequate time with you, so it would be hard for me not to notice how strong of a bender you were. Your possession of a water pouch helped as well."

Katara was sure of it now. She had been wondering a long time whether this man could help her or not, but now she knew that he was indeed very wise, wiser than any other water-bender she had ever come into contact with. She had one question that had been eating her up inside, and she knew that this man was the only one who could answer it.

"Sir, I was wondering something, and I think you are the only one that can help me. I know this sounds crazy, but I think you really can help me with this problem.

"Go ahead," said the old man, "I've seen a lot of things that I'm sure you would call crazy as well. I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle."

Katara breathed in very deeply.

"Do you know anything about invincibility?"


	8. Part 3: Katara Chapter 8

A/N: This chapter is very different from the style I have been writing in so far because most of it is in the words of someone in the story. Not much else about it, except that I'm not sure when Chapter 9 will be coming in, seeing as tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Oh well...read, review, and enjoy. (RR&E)

Chapter 8

"Ahhh, I knew I sensed something special about you child. Grab some more tea, and I'm sure I can answer all of your questions."

Katara breathed a sigh of relief. She now knew that fate had brought her to this man, and that she was going to be able to learn so much from him.

As she returned with his tea, the man sat up suddenly, as if he had been dozing off.

"Ahhh…must have slipped off for a second there. Oh, my tea!...Now, this is going to take a good deal of explaining. So, I'll start from the beginning. Have you ever heard of the game Pai Sho?"

"Yes, well, I'm not familiar with it, but the name is ringing a few bells."

"Well, to give you a general description of it, it is a tile game played with many tiles with different designs inscribed on them. I don't have time to go over the details of game play because it is very complicated even for masters. However, the one thing that everybody should know is that Pai Sho is not just a game.

"Pai Sho is in fact a game in its own right, but the game has so many different purposes that you would not believe. For instance, there is a worldwide Pai Sho Day. One day out of the year, Pai Sho players from all around the world gather at Omashu for an annual Pai Sho tournament. This is the only event in the world today where water tribe members, earth kingdom dwellers, and fire nation citizens can all gather together peacefully without any nationalism present at all. Everybody is a good sport about it and it is a very social event where people that would otherwise never meet can come together to play a game that we all love and enjoy the company of new friends and old.

"Another thing you should know about Pai Sho is something not very many people take the trouble to learn about. It is a very tight brotherhood of people that use Pai Sho as a front. They are named after a seemingly worthless piece called the White Lotus. Now, the White Lotus, in the hands of anybody, including masters of the game, is not a very powerful piece, but there are many things that the lotus is used for, like signaling membership of the brotherhood to other members.

Another thing you should watch out for as far as the White Lotus is concerned is any house or shop marked with its symbol. These are safe havens for anybody that is a member of the brotherhood that may need safety or medical assistance for any reason."

"It sounds like a very interesting subject," Katara said.

"Very interesting indeed. So interesting, in fact, that I myself have dedicated much of my life to the preservation of this society. I am ranked very highly among other members, and if you notice, outside, there is a very large version of the White Lotus signaling a safe haven, hence my care of you."

"So, how does this relate to invincibility?" Katara asked.

"OK, before we go any further, I need to teach you the proper name for it, so that you don't get too disappointed when you find out what it really is you are referring to. What you are talking about, dear child. is called Water-bender's Skin. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with being invincible, but it is very important that you still understand the value of Water-bender's Skin. Some of us call it Bender's skin, or Bend-Skin for short. Of course, by us, I mean the White Lotus society.

"You see, when you are banished, normally you are given ample food and a reliable source of transportation to get wherever you are going. Unfortunately for me, I was not so wealthy and well respected, so all they gave me was a pound of seal blubber, and a one-man canoe with a paddle. As you can imagine, this did not last me very long, and halfway to the nearest Earth Kingdom post, I had run out of food.

"When I arrived in town, I was at the end of my rope, and I barely made it through the town gate before I collapsed in the street.

"When I woke up, I was in a situation very similar to the one you were in when you woke up on my healing table. I was confused, and I didn't know where I was. I also struck up a friendship with my healer immediately just as you did with me, and we began playing some Pai Sho.

"The man could not believe how good I was at the game, and when I told him my story about my banishment, he insisted that I stay with him for no less than a couple months so that he could teach me everything he knew about the game. He really sensed something in me, just as I did in you, and he taught me everything about the White Lotus society.

"Long story short, I eventually joined the brotherhood myself, and when they found out that I was a water-bender, they sent me here, with none other but the man who first discovered me at that little outpost on the northern tip of the Earth Kingdom. He taught me everything about water-bending and the properties or water, and after he died, he left me to take up his role in the society, which was indeed very high as I told you before.

"Well, the brotherhood had a special interest in us, and they would constantly send their top water-benders all the way out here, even after my former master had passed on. I would brainstorm with them, and we came up with many different discoveries, some of which I have told you about already, and then whoever it was would report back to the society headquarters while I stayed here and mastered it, in case that person was lost or captured on their way back.

"One of the things that we discovered, rather recently actually, is what I have told you is Bend-Skin. It would take me a week to explain the whole concept of it to you, but in a nutshell, Bend-Skin is merely a resistance to sensitivity after many healing sessions. You see, when you heal somebody with water-bending, you are really using the water to add to the person's skin to help create and seal off cuts and wounds. Well, eventually, you create many layers of this water-skin, and that area of the person's body loses all sensitivity to any outside force, such as forceful strikes against it or burns or anything else that might cause harm. Sadly though, Bend-Skin does not protect against the blows to the effected areas, but it does allow the warrior or person to keep moving without being hindered by pain.

Katara had just been enthralled by the wisdom of this man, and how captivating his story was, but she did not expect what came next.

"I'm sure you can see the pros and cons to this, so I don't think that needs explaining, but I do need to tell you one more important thing about it.

"Have you ever come into contact with a man by the name of Long Feng?"


	9. Part 3: Katara Chapter 9

A/N: Well, here is the end of Part 3: Katara. This has been a very interesting section for me to write because most of my original ideas for the plot came out in all of the old man's stories. It was also different writing-wise because I did in fact write most of this part in quotes. This is as I said my first fan-fiction, so I'm still trying to find my best writing style. Enjoy and be looking out for Part 4/5 soon. RR&E (read, review, & enjoy)

Chapter 9

"Wait a minute…You had a run-in with Long Feng and the Dai Li?" questioned the old man.

"Yes, it was about three or four months ago, and…"

"No no no," interrupted the man, "You had a run in with Long Feng and the Dai Li, and you got out of it? I mean, even with the Avatar on your side, that's pretty impressive."

Katara blushed. She felt proud that her newfound friend held her in such high esteem. She felt connected to him, as if she already knew him at some point early in life.

She gave the man a rest and told her story about the conspiracy theory set forth by the Dai Li right under the Earth King's nose. She also told him about Azula and how she was able to sneak into the city as well, disguised as a Kyoshi warrior, and how she manipulated the Dai Li to follow her commands until she was able to run Long Feng out of the city.

"Oh, so you were involved in the coup?" asked the old man.

"Wait, you knew about it before I even told you?"

"Oh of course dear, everybody knows about that by now. That stuff's old news. But I had never heard an accurate description of the event from true eyes. I only rumors that, by the time they float out here, have lost much of their truth in the first place. It was also very interesting to hear it from your point of view as well, what with you traveling with the Avatar and all.

"However," the old man continued, "the one part of your story that doesn't match what I know to be true is that bit at the end about Long Feng being run out of town.

"You see, after he surrendered to Azula, she knew at that point exactly what his strengths and weaknesses are. That's the kind of person she is."

"Wait, how do you know anything about Azula?" Katara asked.

"Eh, well, that's a long story as well. Let's just say I'm a friend of the family. Er…a friend of a part of the family. But that's not important right now. What is important however, is setting your story straight so that you know all the facts.

"After Azula knew that Long Feng would conform to whatever she pleased, she knew exactly where to take him. After the Fire Nation had complete control of Ba Sing Se, she sent Long Feng, as well as a good number of Dai Li agents, out into portions of the Earth Kingdom already under Fire Nation control. She put him in charge of all of the soldiers that could not fire-bend. We like to call them the Lower Ranks."

"So, what exactly does he do now?" Katara asked.

"Well, like I said, he oversees all of the non-bending forces of the Fire Nation army. His forces reports to their generals, who report back to Dai Li agents, who then report to Long Feng, who is in constant contact with Azula."

Katara pondered this for a moment while the man sipped some of his jasmine tea.

"It seems really weird that the Dai Li would conform to that," Katara said, "Even if Long Feng and Azula are directly above them in power, I would think they would have refused to leave their secretive and mysterious lives.

"Yes, it does seem pretty out of character. It's probably why some of them left."

"You mean there are former Dai Li agents just walking around now?" Katara asked, suddenly overcome with a sense of worry.

"Well, there are agents that are no longer part of the Dai Li among us, but they are certainly not just walking around. Long Feng would never have it, much less Azula. What I mean is that they have devoted themselves to helping in many underground groups, especially the White Lotus, but they have remained strictly anonymous. Otherwise, Long Feng would capture them and take them back to his hold, which, actually, is not too far from here."

"Ahh, I see," Katara said as she breathed a large sigh of relief. As the man set back and took another sip of tea, she thought about all of this newfound information. Then, suddenly, a thought hit her so hard, she almost shrieked with worry.

"I think they have Aang," Katara said.

The old man almost spewed tea through his nose.

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Katara was nearly out of breath when she was finished telling about how Aang had been taken off of Appa during their last flight, which was why they had to stop here in the first place.

"Oh dear," the old man said, "this is not good news for anybody. They probably caught him in mid-air while you were asleep, and then transported him to their facility that isn't too far from here, the one I told you about," the man said.

"And if Long Feng has Aang, he'll remember everything about what we did in order to prove his disloyalty to the Earth King. This is bad, especially if what you said about Long Feng and Azula is true. Everybody thinks Aang is dead, including Azula. If she finds out that he is alive, all of our invasion plans are ruined," Katara said.

"Invasion plans?" asked the man, "You mean you are going to invade the Fire Nation?"

"Yes, on the Day of Black Sun. That is the day of a solar eclipse, and Aang is going to fight the Fire-Lord so we can try to end this war before Sozin's comet arrives. We were hoping to have the element of surprise on our side, but if Azula knows Aang is alive, then she'll know that we're coming, which means…"

"You need to leave now," the man said, "If she gets word of the Avatar being alive, your plans are sure to fail and you will have nothing but disaster on the day of your invasion. How far away are you?"

"Just the woods outside of town," Katara answered.

"Good, I know where they are holding him, so I will go with you. Plus, if you don't mind my saying so, I'm an excellent water-bender and I would love to get back at the Fire Nation for what they put me through back at the North Pole."

"Of course you can come with us. We would love your company, as well as the extra hand in battle," Katara said.

"Oh, believe me, you don't want a battle now. With secret plans of an invasion at stake, the last thing you want is any kind of special attention."

"So, you propose we sneak in and break him out?" Katara asked.

"That's the only way," the man confirmed.

"OK then, let's go," Katara said.

The two packed some supplies from the man's shop, and hurried out of the town.

"By the way," Katara asked as they neared the camp, "What is your name?"

"People call me Iceburg."

Chapter 9.5

As she entered the camp, Toph focused her senses in all directions. She felt in and around the man's tent for any other signs of the tunnels she had felt earlier.

"So what's your name?" the man suddenly asked.

"Toph."

"That's a cute little name, what are you doing out here in the middle of the forest by yourself?"

Ignoring the childish treatment, she answered, "I don't know. My parents took me camping for the weekend, but when I got up to go find this river we had been at earlier, I got lost, so I just kept going and listened for somebody, then I found you."

She grimaced inside. This wasn't her best of lies, but it was all she could think of at the moment. Something about this man worried her. It was as if she had a bad run-in with him once. Then, all at once, she remembered.

She kept all signs of emotion inside, and, in doing so, played her helpless blind girl act...right into the Dai Li agent's campsite.


	10. Part 4: Toph Chapter 10

A/N: Finally, the moment I've been waiting for. I've been looking forward to the Toph section for the whole story, and it's finally here! The first chapter of this section, like so many of my chapters have been, is different from what I expected it to be. But, the closer I came to finishing it, the more it became one of my favorite chapters so far. RR&E!

Chapter 10

She awoke with a start when she felt a pair footsteps coming toward the camp. She immediately set to trying to really get a feel for the footsteps when she suddenly recognized the first set.

"Katara's back!" she yelled.

As Sokka got himself up from his long night's sleep, Toph immediately started feeling for the other set. She had not felt footsteps like these before. They were so strong, and sure. She could feel a sense of power radiating through the ground until it reached her waiting hand, like a receptor. It gave her chills.

She immediately backed off the ground, and said, somewhat in awe, to Sokka, "She with someone."

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"I hope that bump goes away soon," Toph said, embarrassed beyond belief.

Katara had brought with her a newfound friend, a wise old man who asked to be called Iceberg. Toph, assuming the worst ever since Aang was taken, sent a rock sliding across the ground in order to trip the man she thought might be harming Katara. What she couldn't feel from so far away was that the man had not been dragging Katara, but leading Katara through some thick places in the forest because of how dark the woods were at night.

"Oh, that's OK, I've always been a quick healer," the old man replied.

Toph laughed. After the old man had come to, Katara had introduced him to Toph and Sokka as a friend. She explained where she had been the previous night, and how this man was apparently some runaway water-bender from the North Pole. Toph had then realized why she had felt the strange power. It was because she felt a sort of connection to him, being a runaway herself. She immediately took to bonding with the man, who also bonded to her, apparently sensing the same connection.

The mood then turned serious, as Katara and Iceberg took turns explaining what was about to happen.

Apparently, Aang had been taken by members of what were called the Lower Ranks, led by Long Feng and the Dai Li. When Toph discovered what their new mission was, she became overwhelmed with a strange sense of fear. She remembered what had happened back in Ba Sing Sei when she had last encountered the Dai Li. They were the most powerful earth-benders she had ever faced, and she was barely able to overcome them.

However, being a part of the group, she decided to go along with the little mission, since, after all, it was kind of important to rescue the Avatar from the clutches of the Fire Nation.

So, soon enough, Toph, Sokka, Katara, Momo, and Iceberg all piled onto Appa to go after their friend. The man explained that the trip to the Lower Ranks' stronghold would take two days at best. So as Katara and Sokka plotted a place on the map for a campsite for the night, Toph took a seat next to Iceberg and struck up a conversation with him.

"So, your name's Iceberg huh? That's cool. My names Toph, but my enemies call me The Blind Bandit."

She felt silly trying to brag about herself to a man that she had just met, but she felt okay with it because of the strange connection she had felt earlier back on the ground.

"Really?" the old man said, "Now, why would people call you that?"

"I guess that's kind of the name I adopted back at the wrestling league."

"Wrestling huh? I bet you were very hard to beat."

Toph was shocked. How could this man tell that she was a great bender? She had never met him. She didn't know anything about him, and he didn't know anything about her, or so she thought. Apparently, her surprise showed through on her face.

"Ah, you're wondering how I know you are a great bender," the old man said, with a strange gentleness that felt like she was talking to an old friend.

"Well, how about I make a deal with you? I'll tell you my story, if you tell me yours," the man said.

"Deal," answered Toph.

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Toph stopped to take a breath. Her story sounded so much more riveting when she told it to such an intent listener.

"I wonder if this is how he feels all the time when he tells his stories," she thought.

She was amazed at all that the man told her about his life. He had told her how he left the North Pole and became part of a secret society. Knowing so much about secrets, she became really interested in all of his stories about the White Lotus society. He had then told her about how he became a masterful water-bender, and had developed skills much like the ones that he had sensed in her when they first met.

When he had finished, she began telling him that he was right about her amazing gifts. She told him about how she could see with earth-bending, and how she could tell many things about a person just by their footsteps. She then told him about her alias as the Blind Bandit, her experiences with the wrestling league, about finding Aang, but even more so her stories about Ba Sing Sei and the Dai Li. The man for some reason seemed very interested in her stories about Long Feng and the Dai Li.

Suddenly, she felt a bump and knew that they had landed for the night.

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After the campfire was built and supper finished, the two began talking again, telling about adventures and old friends and fun bending tricks they learned, all the way up until it was time for bed. Toph knew that the group only had two sleeping bags because Twinkle-Toes would always sleep on the ground, and she had her earth tents. So she decided to help her new friend, and made a second tent for him. It felt so good doing nice things for people, and having a friend with open and eager ears, ready to listen.

As she fell asleep, she thought about her new friend. She thought about how much her mind had eased about facing the Dai Li with Iceberg around. She thought about Aang, scared and alone in his prison cell.

"No, he's not scared. I know I taught him better than that," she told herself.

Finally, she thought about herself. She thought about her parents back home. She thought she was going to see her mother one time, but that ended in disaster. She thought she had sent a letter back home with Sokka's messenger hawk, but she had not received any word back yet. But her last thought, as she drifted off to sleep, was of her old room.

She remembered how soft the sheets were compared to this hard ground. She remembered how warm it was, compared to the cool night air. But most of all, she thought about how no matter how scared she was, she would always have her parents in the next room to comfort her when the noises outside became too much.

Finally, after four months of traveling with the Avatar, she felt that same security in the next tent over that she left behind that fateful night.

She remembered that night more vividly than any of her past experiences from the last four months. That night that was full of deceit, full of adventure, and mostly, full of sadness.

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Toph awoke with a start as she felt a large thud in the distance.


	11. Part 4: Toph Chapter 11

A/N: This chapter was very different that I expected it to be. I know that I say that about every chapter, but this one has really surprised me in how I ended up writing it. I'm getting the feel that Iceberg is talking too much, so I'm probably going to keep him a little bit quieter from now on, since I've tied up most of my loose ends with the exception of Aang. Also, I took a lot of liberties with the whole idea of the White Lotus, and I hope I didn't get too carried away and stray too far from the original idea of what it actually is. But, hey, it's my story! I'm gonna do what I want! RR&E!

Chapter 11

Every single footstep was a thought.

"Who is this guy? Why is he not with the rest of the Dai Li? Did he escape? Why would he escape? How would he escape? Was he still twisted?" were all questions running through her mind.

"You must be worried about not being with your parents," he said, making Toph jump.

"Nah, I've been lost so many times, I don't think anything of it anymore," she lied.

"I see, well, you'll have to spend the rest of the night here. The sun will be coming up soon, so we'll go back and look for your parents then."

Toph started to get worried. She had been captured before, but those two guys were nothing. This guy could actually be a threat. Any move she made she would have to make fast and soon. That is, if the sun really was coming up as soon as the man had said.

"Would you like some tea?" the man offered.

"Sure," said Toph, trying to not give away her intentions or even worse, offending the man.

She felt the man set the cup in her hand, and retreat back to his own seat. She elegantly took a sip, trying to appear as respectable as possible as to not impose a threat.

As she set the cup back down on the rock in front of her, she swished the tea around in her mouth like she always did, then almost fell backwards in shock.

Thinking irrationally, she jumped to her feet, raised her hands, and sent a rock right towards the shocked, stunned man.

He was thrown off guard, but he still managed to reach up and send the rock right back to Toph.

As she felt the rock coming, she let the earth beneath her give way as to allow her to slip down just below the rock as it rushed past her head. She then catapulted herself as high as she could away from the man's camp and started rushing back toward her own. She knew she could outrun him, but she also knew that he could follow, which she now heard him doing.

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As she neared camp, she sent a rock far ahead of her to waken the others from their sleep. When she reached the camp, she yelled, "Iceberg! Katara! Sokka! Wake up!"

She quickly turned around to prepare to defend herself against the man until the others were ready to take the offensive and capture him.

He burst into the campsite with a wave of rocks that he immediately sent at Toph. She planted her feet firmly, and prepared to send the rocks back when all of a sudden, they stopped and fell short of her, revealing the man standing alone by the edge of the woods absolutely stunned. She then felt around herself to search for any source of surprise and found that Katara, Sokka, and Iceberg were already up and apparently had been for some time judging by the fire she sensed was still going.

"Iceberg?!" the man yelled.

"Gi Fong?!" Iceberg exclaimed back.

Toph then sunk to the ground and just sat, in total and utter disbelief as the two men hugged.

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"Toph! We were worried sick about you! You really need to stop this business of running off everywhere!"

Toph sighed as she got her daily lecture from Katara about responsibility and all that garbage that, frankly, she didn't care about in the slightest.

"Oh let her be Katara. If it wasn't for her, Gi Fong here might already be tracked down and imprisoned by the Dai Li. It's lucky that she found him before they did."

Toph smiled. It was great to finally have someone on her side with these sorts of things. She really got tired of being bossed around. She was the youngest of the group, and yet, she was the most proficient master by far. Why was she the one who was always picked on? Sokka had told her once that Katara likes to me motherly, but it never really felt like her mother talking to her. If anybody, it reminded her of her father.

That was why she left home in the first place. She had wanted to escape from the can-nots and do-nots. She had wanted to escape from the life of rules and discipline that she had grown up in, but did not belong in. She had wanted to finally be her own boss. Lately though, it seemed she was more trapped than ever.

The arrival of Iceberg had helped. Even with his old friend around, he had still found time that day to talk with Toph as they continued their flight toward the stronghold where Aang was being kept. Toph had tried to be understanding though when Iceberg and Gi Fong were reuniting and rekindling their old friendship that had obviously been broken a long time ago.

Besides, Gi Fong had an interesting story too.

He was a very high-ranking member of the Dai Li, but his faith in the agency had been shaken when the other agents conformed to the fire princess's plans. The last straw finally came for him when Long Feng was made supreme commander of the Lower Ranks. He had escaped just before Aang had been brought in, the Gaang had figured out.

Once Iceberg said that Gi Fong could be trusted, everybody agreed and it was decided that Gi Fong would help them on their mission to rescue Aang.

When Gi Fong had agreed to the plan, Toph could sense the fear and nervousness in him, but later when talking with Iceberg, he explained that Gi Fong had a right to be scared about returning to the place he had just escaped. He was making a very brave decision in going with them because if he was caught, there is no telling what Long Feng would do to him, besides of course imprisonment.

"Besides," Iceberg explained, "we're going to need all the help we can get sneaking into that stronghold. I can tell you where it is, but once we get there, I'm worthless as a guide. Gi Fong knows the place inside and out. He will be able to lead us right to where they are keeping the high profile prisoners, which will inevitably include Aang.

"We aren't going to be able to make a big show about this though. The last thing we want is any commotion around all this stuff with Aang. If you guys want your invasion plan to work, nobody can know that Aang is alive."

"But if Long Feng already has Aang, won't he already know that he is alive? Just because he doesn't have him doesn't mean that he won't still tell Azula about it," Toph said.

"Exactly. That's why we need precise and swift moves in a situation like this. As for Long Feng, I really don't know what we are going to do about him."

Toph changed the subject.

"Is that west dragon guy…ummm…Iroh, part of the White Lotus?" she asked.

"Now how did you figure that one out? And how do you know master Iroh?"

Toph then told Iceberg about how she had considered running away from the Gaang back when she first joined and how she ran into Iroh by the side of the road who then offered her some tea.

"Before I left, he told me the recipe for the tea, and told me to never lose it. Well, whenever Sokka gives me a chance, I make that tea for us when we are traveling. Then, last night when I found Gi Fong, I tasted the tea that he was making, and I knew that it wasn't just coincidence that he had used the same recipe that I had. That was why I ran away from him in the first place. I was just so shocked that we had the same tea recipe and I got scared.

"But I think I've pieced it together now. You said that Gi Fong was part of the White Lotus society. By the way that Iroh told me that recipe, I knew that it was special. I added in that fact that Iroh was the kindest and friendliest member of the Fire Nation I had ever met, and then I just kind of pieced it together from there I guess."

"Well done. There are a few details about the story that I don't think you know yet, but I will enlighten you," the man said.

"There are two methods of offering membership to the White Lotus society. The most common way is to offer a Lotus tile to the possible inductee. This is to signify that this person has the esteemed qualities of the common White Lotus member. This is how almost everybody becomes inducted.

Toph nodded.

"However, the second and more mysterious way is when something even more special than the Lotus tile is given…the recipe for a special tea. This was how I was inducted. This method signifies a potential member who has the ability to be more than just your average brother. Now don't get me wrong, every member of the White Lotus earns their spot, and there is nothing less special about a common member, and what we call elite members. The only real significance is that elite members are the only ones allowed to hold office in the brotherhood.

"As I'm sure you've deduced by now, Gi Fong was also labeled as a potential elite member. He has fulfilled his calling and now holds a very high rank in the brotherhood, only six positions down from the grandmaster, and only two positions down from me.

"But more importantly at the moment, you have also been labeled as a possible elite member. When Iroh told you that recipe, he must have really sensed something special in you. He had more than likely formed a confidence in your skills as an earth-bender, and he also probably sees you as someone he could trust with anything he needed. It wasn't right for him to label you at such a young age, but he must have really sensed something special about you that he did not want to pass up, which is probably why he wanted to offer membership before you left because he probably thought he would never see you again."

"Wow," Toph said, stunned, "You mean, I could be an elite member some day?"

"Yes. Now, of course there are a lot of requirements that you must meet first, and you must also be the proper age of 21, but by that time, I'm sure you will be more than ready to take up any position that could possibly be offered to you."

"Wow."

That was all she could say. It was all she wanted to say.

She felt the bump again that signified a landing, and hopped out of the saddle and immediately set to finding the pots and began gathering ingredients.

They were having tea tonight.


	12. Part 4: Toph Chapter 12

A/N: I love this chapter. It is my favorite by far. It is, sadly, the last of the Toph section, but it leaves with a bang. Hopefully you've enjoyed the story to this point, but obviously realize that I've reached the brink before the final part. I promise it will be epic, and I will have even more surprises for you all when we get there. But for right now, enjoy the finale of Part 4: Toph and the segue to Part 5. RR&E!

Chapter 12

Toph felt jittery all that morning. She had had the best sleep she could have ever dreamed of, but none of it calmed her down from the emotional high she had experienced the last night.

She was totally unprepared for what had happened. She had never in a million years thought that she could possibly belong to a secret society, and now she was being told that she might someday be a leader of one?! It was almost too much for her to take in.

She hadn't had much time to get ready that morning, considering they were needing to get to the stronghold as soon as possible, meaning less ground time and more flying.

Iceberg and herself were the only ones not able to fall back asleep once everyone had come aboard Appa for the final stretch before it was time to break into the Lower Ranks' prison. They talked some more about things like the White Lotus or the Dai Li or Aang.

"So tell me Toph, what is it like traveling with the Avatar? You've told me about some of your adventures, but what do you really think of him?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's cool I guess."

"Oh come on, I may have only met you two days ago, but I know that somebody like the Avatar is more than just cool."

"I don't know. I mean, he's nice and everything, but once you get past that, he really is just a regular kid like me or Katara."

"Regular? You mean you consider what you and Katara and Sokka are doing to be just normal? I have news for you. There is nothing normal about leading around the Avatar under-cover as fire nation citizens. There is nothing normal about becoming a master water-bender in a matter of months like Katara has. There is nothing normal about how Sokka's mind works at his young age. And there is most certainly nothing normal or regular about a blind earth-bender. Don't you dare ever think of anything you do even things that you do on a day-to-day basis as regular.

"I've met plenty of kids the same age as all of you in my studies back at the village. None of them even compare to the power that is held in your group. And it most certainly has nothing to do with Aang being the avatar."

"It doesn't ever seem like that. Especially when it's just us four for an extended period of time. I always get lectures from Katara everyday about how we need to be responsible and all this other garbage that I don't even care about. She treats me like…nevermind."

"No, go ahead, tell me."

"She treats me like my father used to treat me. Remember how I said that I almost ran away from the group back when I first started, when I met Iroh?"

"Yes."

"Well, it wasn't an almost type of thing. I was already at least a mile away from them when I ran into him.

"We had been on the run from Azula and these other two girls all night, and Katara blamed me for them catching up with us because I didn't help them unload Appa and it didn't allow everyone to get enough sleep. I told her that I didn't need to help with that stuff because I take care of myself and carry my own stuff. I told her that if anyone was to blame, it was Appa because he was shedding a trail right to us. I was right of course, but even Aang jumped in and agreed with Katara.

"Don't get me wrong though. I realize that we were all at fault and it was just going to take some adjusting before we could get used to each other. But I guess what I'm trying to say is that…" a tear came to her eye, "…I've been thinking that all the pain of leaving home isn't worth it all anymore. I know what I'm doing is important, teaching Aang earth-bending and all, but he is so proficient at it now, he doesn't even need my help anymore. He'd rather train with Katara anyway. I'm right back where I started before I left home. I still get treated like I'm helpless. I still get all these lectures all the time about being careful. Why should I be putting myself through all this pain of leaving home and missing my home? Why should I be putting myself through all the danger I face everyday traveling with the Avatar? Why should I be letting Katara talk down to me each and everyday? I'm worse off here than I ever was at home!"

She was full on crying now. She felt so bad about the things she was saying. She knew they were so wrong and that she was wrong for saying them. But knowing all this didn't keep her from saying them and meaning them with everything she had in her.

Suddenly, she felt Iceberg's soft arms wrap around her. They were so warm. They were so comforting. They were so friendly and understanding.

She only cried more.

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The saddle was silent.

Everybody was sitting up intently watching the ground below them come and go beneath them, knowing that the farther they traveled, the closer they got to the danger that lay before them.

Toph didn't need earth-bending to feel the fear that had gripped the entire group. She felt it too, but she was dealing with it internally better than anyone else. Gi Fong kept looking over the side as if he had seen a spirit pass by, undoubtedly looking for the stronghold. Katara was playing with her water. Sokka was sharpening his sword, not really accomplishing anything. It wasn't surprising considering he was shaking terribly. Iceberg almost showed no interest and wouldn't have if he had not been tapping his foot rather violently on the floor of the saddle.

Toph knew how to look calm. She had plenty of experience in lying with her expressions back when her parents would ask her what she had done that day.

"Oh nothing, just smelled flowers in the garden. My nose is getting really strong", she would say, when she had really been at the arena that day, cleaning house as usual as the Blind Bandit.

"We need to land now," said Iceberg, "We can almost see the stronghold. If we can see them, then there is a chance they can see us. We need to make camp until nightfall when we will advance on the prison."

Sokka jumped up and landed Appa where Iceberg instructed him to.

When Toph got off she began to feel around and try to sense where they were heading that night. She started reaching out beyond the trees and felt a large hill on both sides of her telling her they were in a valley.

She continued feeling past the hills until she was stopped short.

She stood up, no longer able to contain her emotions inside.

"We have to break into that thing?!"

"Why do you think I came along?" asked Iceberg.

"I thought you just came because you knew the way to the prison. If I had known what we were looking for I would have felt it back where we first picked you up!"

"What are you yelling about Toph?" asked Katara.

"I'll show you."

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Katara, Toph, and Iceberg were weary from their scale of the hill, which as it turns out was actually a mountain. They stopped a few feet short of the peak.

"Why are we stopping?" asked Katara.

"I want to prepare you for what you are about to see. You need to realize that this is where they are keeping Aang. You have to realize that what you are about to see is real. It is indeed massive as Toph implied. But there is more than that. I know you both have a great attachment to Aang, and I just need you to realize that no matter what you see next, hope is not lost. All the power is in the visual. You can't be deceived by what you see. Toph, I'm telling you this too because even though you felt it earlier, you will have a better feeling of it up here on the top of this mountain. Are you ready?"

The girls nodded.

The three continued up the mountain until Toph could tell they were at the peak. Toph had wondered why nobody had said anything when they reached the top. Was she the first one there? No, she could feel Iceberg and Katara next to her.

"Why are you guys so quiet?" Toph asked.

"If you could feel what I see, you would be quieter than either of us," said Katara.

And she was right. Fortunately for Toph, she would not have her spirits broken since she could not see what Katara saw. And even more fortunately for Iceberg, he had already witnessed it, so he was not flabbergasted as much as Katara was.

However, this doesn't mean Katara had no right to be shocked out of her wits. For what she saw is something that very few people see from the outside.

She remained quiet as she gazed out upon the island in the middle of the lake. She gasped as she saw the massive metal building, even bigger than the palace at Ba Sing Sei. But the most magnificent thing about the stronghold was its airfield. It boasted about 80 air balloons that matched the designs that Katara had seen back at the Northern Air Temple. That is of course, 80 of them landed. On the opposite side of the island was at least 20 more already in flight that appeared to be either leaving or entering the island's mega-base.

"I've seen enough," Katara said.

"I agree, it's best we go back down to the camp and prepare for the rescue."

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Dinner was even more silent than the saddle had been. At least up in the air people had something to do. Now, however, everybody remained absolutely silent as they ate their meals. The silence continued all through the last hour of preparation before the journey to the island began.

"You ready?" Iceberg asked Toph and Gi Fong, breaking the two hour silence.

The two only nodded.

Toph walked next to Gi Fong as they approached the side of the mountain. She planted her feet and reached down as far as she could, while Gi Fong did the same. Together, they formed the first few hundred feet of the tunnel that would lead them directly under the island.

Iceberg sighed, and then gave the call everyone had been waiting for.

"OK, everybody in!"

Chapter 12.5

"What are you up to Long Feng?"

Being captured had not had the least effect on Aang. He was after all the Avatar. Plus, he had already beaten Long Feng once before.

"Oh, nothing really. Just hunting you down and reporting your existence to Princess Azula," Long Feng answered.

Nothing had prepared Aang for what Long Feng had just said.

"I'll save you the trouble of worrying about it and just tell you the whole story. After Azula beat me out at Ba Sing Sei, she gave me a consolation prize; the entire lower half of her Fire Nation forces. I've extended their mighty hand all the way down and throughout this pathetic little dirt kingdom, and made my armies a force to be reckoned with."

"You mean Azula's armi..."

Aang was cut off by a smack in the face from a large rock.

"You really need to watch that little Avatar mouth of yours if you want any chance of Azula being totally unaware of your presence. Right now you haven't done much but to convince me that the best thing would be to send you to the Fire Nation right now. But out of kindness, I'm offering you another chance to show some respect.

"I have a messenger hawk right here with a message explaining everything that has transpired over the last day as far as yourself is concerned. I give the word, and he flies off immediately to Azula's quarters where she will read the message and inevitably give the word for your immediate termination. However, you have one last chance to be of some use if you accept. I want you to tell me everything that you know about what is going to happen on the Day of Black Sun. I know, I know, horrible isn't it? Sadly enough, you have nowhere to run. No one knows of this base, and even if they did, nobody is capable of getting in here, with the obvious exception of the other prisoners who have made it through the front door with an unnatural ease. The choice is yours; accept your punishment, or delay it. It really doesn't matter because it is sure to come regardless, but why not make your last moments meaningful eh? You have until tomorrow."

Aang did not have a chance to respond before another, larger, rock blacked him out long enough for him to be transported to his cell.


	13. Part 5: The Island Chapter 13

A/N: Here it is. The first chapter of the epic finale to The Lower Ranks. I have not yet decided how many chapters I want to divide this final part into, so I'll just let it be a surprise. This is not one of my favorite chapters because it didn't really feel like I really wrote much because it was so short. But who knows? Maybe it's better than I think. RR&E!

Chapter 13

Katara felt helpless.

She was underground far away from any water source other than her pouch, on her way to break into a totally metal structure that held her dearest friend captive, thereby casting a heavy shadow on the world's hopes of ever being freed from oppression.

Nevertheless, she knew that this was the only way to get anywhere near Aang, but she still felt something ominous about the journey under the lake that surrounded the metal stronghold.

The group stopped for their final rest before sneaking in.

The plan was pretty simple. The main thing everyone had to remember was to stay hidden at all costs. The prison hold was in the very center of the middle floor of the building. The plan was for Gi Fong and Toph to get directly under the center of the structure, and then Toph would open up the floor once Iceberg sensed that everyone had left whatever room they had been under. They would then enter up through the floor, and then follow Gi Fong who had donned his Dai Li uniform. They would then enter as prisoners. No one would suspect Gi Fong yet since he had only made his escape two days earlier, but they still didn't want to risk an entrance through the front because they still wished to avoid any attention. Once they got to Aang, the plan would reverse itself, only they will have gained a member.

Even still, the simplicity of the plan was what worried Katara the most. She had seen the stronghold with her own eyes, and she felt that the plan sounded far too easy.

When she expressed this to Iceberg he replied, "It sounds a lot easier than it will be. Remember, we are relying on unrefined skills. I may think that everybody is gone when we enter, but remember I told you that I've only realized this ability recently. I'm not even sure it will work for non-benders. Then, we are also just playing along hoping that Gi Fong has not been discovered to be missing yet. Long Feng thrives on information. There's a high chance that Gi Fong's campsite has already been discovered and reported back to Long Feng. Then, even after that, we are relying on luck that the soldiers guarding Aang's cell will fall for our plan as easily as we want them too.

"But even so," he continued, "I'm confident that we should be able to fake it if something goes wrong."

"I guess so. It's just that, back at the North Pole, I had a responsibility to protect Aang, but Zuko still took him right out from under me. I feel responsible for everything that happens to him, and even if our plan goes off just as well as you expect, who's to say that they haven't already sent him away from here?"

"Nobody is making any predictions too early Katara. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve in case we run into trouble. I promise that Aang, and all of the rest of you will get out just fine."

She felt better. Just talking to Iceberg had a way of working on your mind. She felt reassured that nothing bad was going to happen.

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"We're here," Iceberg said, "Are we all ready?"

Everybody nodded.

"OK Toph, are you ready to do this?"

Toph said nothing, but merely moved away the rocks from above them as if she was dusting off a fireplace mantle. Gi Fong then began raising the group up on a pillar until Toph gave the word to stop. Katara had nothing to do but wait.

"OK, all clear," said Iceberg.

Katara looked in the direction she thought Toph was, and waited for her to open up the floor so that they could continue their mission.

Then, suddenly, there was a warm light that shone through from the direction Katara had been looking. She then saw the outline of Toph pushing apart the metal. Then, with a final grunt, Toph had completed her task.

Iceberg then yelled, "Wait, there's a group of guards coming! Bring us back down! No time to reseal the hole!"

Gi Fong quickly lowered the pillar back down to the floor of the tunnel. A hush fell over everyone as they all looked up and saw the shadows of three people pass by the hole. They waited until the all clear from Iceberg.

"OK, their gone."

Gi Fong raised the platform back up until everybody was right at the hole ready to pop out and head to the cell.

So far the plan was working.

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Aang stirred from the sound of the key unlocking his cell. He was then escorted by two guards through a hallway and down some stairs. He then was led into a large room that was for one reason or another empty. He shuddered as he felt a cool draft that was for some reason different than the normal radiating heat he felt throughout the prison (except in the room with Long Feng). He looked around and saw a place over in the corner of the room where it seemed as though the metal had been folded over to create a hole. He then felt a nudge in his side as the guard ordered him to keep walking.


	14. Part 5: The Island Chapter 14

A/N: Uh-oh. Things are getting intense! I finally figured out how to resolve the last bit of the Sokka section, so I'm proud of myself for that. Other than that...nothing else out of the ordinary. RR&E!

Chapter 14

Sokka hated not having his sword.

It wasn't in danger or anything. Gi Fong was carrying it for him since the rest of them were posing as prisoners. But it still hurt not being able to have it on his person in case he needed it for something.

It was like part of Sokka was walking towards the prison hold, and the other part was being carried for him. While it was convenient to not have to walk with both, he still didn't like being separated.

Ever since the incident with the three men back at the hole, their plan had gone on without a hitch. They had even passed by guards without being given a second thought.

"There must be a very high level of trust among these guys," thought Sokka.

They were continuing on their way when Gi Fong stopped, took a deep breath, and opened the door to a very large room.

Sokka gasped at the enormousness of it. He hadn't been able to see the stronghold from the outside, so he was really just then getting his first glimpse at how big it really was. He looked around and saw that the room served as a sort of storage unit for many transportation units. He then gasped again when he saw something he had hoped to never see again; the metal coal car.

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Aang was puzzling and puzzling over that hole the entire way to his destination. He had figured out that he was in a rather large facility so he had plenty of time to think about it. There was really only one other thing he could have thought about anyway, (whether or not to tell Long Feng about the invasion), but he had already made up his mind about that.

He ran through all of the possibilities in his head. He knew that he was on the bottom floor because each flight of stairs was marked with a number telling what floors the stairs led to, so it couldn't be a basement. He also had found out from other prisoners in the surrounding cells that he was on an island, so the only thing under the building could be dirt and soil.

"Why would anyone rip apart metal to get down into the dirt? Why not just go outside?" he thought. Then, he thought again about the actual hole. The room had been lit well enough to see the hole, so he should have seen some dirt too. Why hadn't he seen any dirt?

He then thought some more about it. He had watched Toph metal-bend before, so he knew that metal was easier to push out than to pull in. Whoever made the hole was not trying to go down, but come up. That explained why he didn't see any dirt around the hole. There must have been a secret tunnel that led under the prison, and whoever was trying to get in, must have used that tunnel, and then broke through the metal to get into the prison.

"Wait a minute…" he thought, "…get into the prison? Why would anybody want to get into this place? That doesn't make sense. Break through metal? Nobody can break through metal except…" After that, he didn't even need to finish the thought.

For the rest of his journey across the prison, he wore a slight grin on his face.

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"What are you gasping at Sokka?" whispered Katara.

"That…that thing."

"What thing?" asked Katara.

"Remember those kids I brought to you to heal? That was the machine that I fought that day."

He and looked at it again while Katara did the same.

"No way...It...it can't be," Sokka stammered.

"What now?" Katara asked.

"It's the same one. Look at what they're repairing on it! It's missing a wheel! The same wheel that I broke off before it plunged into the river."

He then thought, "Wait a minute, if that thing's here? Who found it?".

Then, as he gazed around the room some more he had to bite his tongue as he saw Commander, sitting down on the opposite side of the room with a splint on his leg.

"Pssst…Gi Fong!" he whispered.

"What?!"

"We need to get out of this room now. Don't ask questions. Just get us out now, and I'll explain later."

Gi Fong then changed the group's course and headed for a door in the nearest wall. Sokka turned to get one last look at the metal contraption.

He looked it over one last time. He remembered that day, with the hot rocks that shot out of the hole in the back of it. He had never quite figured out how they did it, but he had forgotten about it. That is, until the mystery solved itself right in front of his eyes.

As he passed through the door, he caught glimpse of a Dai Li agent stepping out of the hole, bending large rocks out in front of him.

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The moment had finally come. This point was the most crucial in the group's whole plan.

Gi Fong opened the door to the prison hold and walked in, harshly and loudly ordering the rest of the group to follow him.

He immediately set to looking around the room searching for any sign of Aang. Everyone else was doing the same. He then saw a large metal cage with thinner bars than the other cells. But he gulped as he saw the cell was empty.

"Hey Gi! Whatcha doin' up here?" asked a man that Gi Fong had tried to forget.

"Oh nothing Fe, just bringing in some prisoners. Say...uh...where's that one prisoner…with the arrows on his head? Where they keeping him?"

Fe pointed at the metal cage with the thin bars Gi Fong had seen upon entering.

"Long Feng's interrogating him. Apparently he's really special or somethin' and the fire princess been lookin' for him. I don't know anything 'bout it, but apparently they've been lookin' for him for like 50 years or somethin'. Maybe even longer. 'Who cares?' I says. Just tell me where to keep 'em and when t' feed 'em and I be fine.."

"I know whatcha mean. Well, if you'll be so kind as to give me the keys, I'll go ahead and lock these guys up. They told me to take them to the back room."

Fe picked up his keys. "Here ya go."

Gi Fong then led everyone to the back room where he shut the door before speaking to them.

"OK, listen. Long Feng's talking to Aang down in his main judgment hall. I could probably fool Fe out there into letting me take one of you down to Long Feng. I'll then take him or her down there, while the rest of you wait here."

"I'll go," said Iceberg, "No sense in sending one of these kids down there and leaving the rest of them here with this old geezer. Plus, I've dealt with Long Feng many times before. I can handle him as well as I need to."

"It's settled then," said Gi Fong, "but listen, if anything should goes wrong, you guys are going to have to break yourselves out. If me and Iceberg get found out, they'll call a whole mess of soldiers into Long Feng's hall with a loud siren. If you hear that siren, that will be your cue to get back downstairs as quickly as you can, and get out of here. And remember, Long Feng obviously hasn't told anybody that Aang is the avatar since not even Fe knows. You must not refer to Aang as the Avatar anymore until you get out of this cursed place. Got it?"

"Got it," everyone replied.

Gi Fong then locked the cell, and took Iceberg with him back out into the main cells. He then slipped by a sleeping Fe and began making their way towards Long Feng's hall.

Gi Fong and Iceberg were traveling with a lot more ease through the stronghold now that they had left the others behind.

"Hey, I have an idea," said Gi Fong, "If I can find you a Dai Li uniform, we won't have to try to sneak you in as a prisoner. I know exactly where to find one."

Gi Fong then led Iceberg down a hallway, hung a left, went down all of the stairs, hung another left, traveled all the way down a long hallway until they came to an unmarked door.

"The extra uniforms are in here," Gi Fong said, "this will make things go a lot more smoothly when we enter Long Feng's hall."

Gi Fong opened the door, entered, and closed it. He then began searching for a uniform that he thought would fit Iceberg. He found one, and tossed it to him. As Iceberg placed it over his head, Gi Fong explained what was about to happen.

"The back door of this room leads to Long Feng's hall. It is the guard entrance that approaches the back of his throne. When you enter into the hall, there is a metal pathway. On each side of the pathway is a large drop that goes about three-hundred sword lengths to a metal floor. In the middle of the room, the path widens to form a large circle. In the circle are Long Feng's throne and, more importantly, two holes in the floor that have been hollowed out for two throne guards to hide in. When we enter, we will tell the guards to take a break, and they will do so. We will then take their place and wait for the guards that are escorting Aang to leave. When they leave, we jump Long Feng and, well, I think you know what to do then."

"Yes, I do," Iceberg said, with a somber tone that Gi Fong recognized all too well.

They then opened the back door of the uniform room and began to make their way toward the hall.

But, when Gi Fong opened the door, he was stopped short by a rock flying toward him. He adjusted and the rock missed, but as Gi Fong looked up, he saw none other than Long Feng standing in the doorway.

"Well, well, well...Iceberg and Gi Fong. You know Gi Fong, you really saved us both a lot of trouble by just coming back rather than forcing me to send out troops to capture you."

Gi Fong spotted the misfired rock. He planted, and then began to throw it at Long Feng, when he was knocked out by a second rock that had been concealed by Long Feng.

As he crumpled to the floor, he heard Long Feng say, "It really is quite annoying that you have so little confidence in me to think that I would not have brought a spare."

With Gi Fong disabled, Iceberg ripped off his uniform and drew water out of his pouch. He quickly broke the water up, froze it, and sent it flying towards Long Feng. He dodged and ran back into the throne room. As Iceberg followed, he watched Long Feng take a leap over the two holes Gi Fong had described. Out of the holes came the two guards, both armed with the traditional rock-hands that were normally associated with the Dai Li. As Iceberg tried to gather the water, both pairs of hands were shot at him. Iceberg raised the water and froze it just in time to stop the hands. He then ran up to the block of ice, and began punching it sending out chunks of ice toward the guards. Courtesy of two direct hits, the guards were knocked off of the pathway down into the abyss. However, Iceberg had concentrated on the guards and had not seen Long Feng standing under his hovering throne.

Iceberg watched Long Feng twirl the throne around and around preparing to send it flying towards him. He quickly raced through all of his years of water-bending, all of his discoveries, all of his moves that he had learned throughout the years. Suddenly, he knew what to do. He thought through it once more, just to make sure there was no other way. But finally, convinced this was the only solution, jumped off of the pathway.


	15. Part 5: The Island Chapter 15

A/N: HERE IT IS! The epic finale to The Lower Ranks! It's had its twists and turns, but it all ends here. The chapter does kind of stop short, so I will be adding an epilogue soon explaining what happened after. So, there ya go. It all comes down to this. RR&E!

Chapter 15

Toph hated just sitting.

"We should be helping them, instead of sitting in this stupid cage! I could break us out of here like nothing! They can't face Long Feng alone."

She didn't really believe herself. She knew full well that Iceberg and Gi Fong together could handle Long Feng fine, but she still didn't like sitting still in a cage just waiting.

"I know how you feel Toph. I want to help Aang too, but I think we need to give Iceberg more credit than that. He's more experienced than any of us. I think he is going to be able to handle himself," Katara said.

"But what's going to happen if Aang's already been shipped outta here? By the time they get down there, this whole thing might be for nothing."

She didn't believe this either, but there was still something in her that told her she couldn't just sit and wait for something to happen. This was how she felt the night that she left home. She knew that Aang had needed her help and she couldn't just sit in her room at home and allow Aang to never learn earth-bending. She couldn't handle it any longer.

"That's it, I'm tired of waiting. I'm breaking out of here. If you want to stay here, that's fine, but don't you dare try to stop me. I'm going, and there's nothing you are going to do about it," she yelled.

"Toph, just listen…" Katara started.

"NO! I'M DONE LISTENING TO YOU!"

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Ever since I joined this little group, I've gotten nothing but orders and rules from you Katara. I'm sick of it! And now, when the one person you've been protecting with all these rules is in danger, you try to tell me to not go after him? You're…a…HYPOCRITE!"

Toph crumpled to the floor and began weeping. Katara started to inch toward her. She reached around her and for the first time, the two hugged.

"We're coming," Katara whispered.

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Aang felt the familiar pressure in his back from the guard.

"Can you stop that please? You don't need to keep prodding me along. Just tell me where to go and I'll go."

Aang mentally smacked himself ashamed of making that stupid mistake as he was physically smacked in the back by the guard's metal club. Sadly enough, Aang didn't faint this time. Blacking out had been his easy way out in this place, and he regretted every blow that didn't knock him out.

"Maybe after another visit with Long Feng you'll learn some respect for your superiors."

Aang refrained from speaking back.

He felt like he had been sitting outside of Long Feng's room for a long time. He wondered what had taken so long.

"Long Feng wishes to speak to you alone this time," the guard said as he opened the door.

As Aang walked in, he noticed that the room had a lot more light in it than he remembered it having last time. He looked around the room and was shocked to see a rather aged man who had apparently frozen himself to the side of the main pillar where Long Feng's throne was. Then, Aang noticed that the throne actually was not there, and was in fact nowhere in the room. Finally, he looked upon Long Feng. He looked roughed up and somewhat messy rather than his normal slick and shiny appearance.

Aang chuckled. "What happened to you?"

Long Feng lost it. He immediately shot a concealed rock at Aang, who had no trouble dodging it, but could not bend it back since his hands were tied behind his back.

"You know good and well what happened! Now you are going to tell me right now who else you brought here, or I will go and personally tell Azula about you myself!"

Aang said nothing.

"Oh! So now you don't say anything? We'll see about that."

He then shot another, larger rock at Aang, which he dodged at first, but then, received a crushing blow to the back when Long Feng bended it back toward him.

"Haha! And so the mighty Avatar falls. I guess I'll go ahead and save Azula the trouble and finish you myself."

He raised the rock again, but right before releasing it once more to deliver the final blow, it crumbled to pieces.

Long Feng looked up and saw Toph, Katara, and Sokka standing right inside the door to the hall.

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Toph was overjoyed to see Aang again, and now turned to complete her vengeance against Long Feng.

She began making a dash toward him, dodging another rock that was being shot at her. Then she stopped, planted, and reformed the crumbled rock, and shot it at Long Feng with such dizzying speed that he had no time to dodge, and was dealt a crushing blow. She continued running toward him and then, upon reaching him, bent down and ripped up the metal from the floor and wrapped it around the stunned Long Feng.

She then ran back to Katara and Sokka, who were already helping up Aang.

"We need to find Gi Fong and Iceberg," said Toph.

"Who are they?" asked Aang.

"Don't worry about it right now," Katara said, "We just need to find them. Let's go through the back door instead of the front. We'll be less likely to run into guards."

"Wait a minute," said Toph, "What about Long Feng? When he wakes up, he's bound to tell Azula that Aang is alive. What are we going to do with him?"

"He looks to be out cold. Even when he wakes up, he'll have a hard time opening any of the doors with his arms trapped," said Sokka.

"OK then," said Toph, "let's go find Gi Fong and Iceberg."

"I'm here!" a voice called out to them.

They looked up and there stood Gi Fong on the opposite side of the room. He also looked like he had been roughed up some.

"I don't know where Iceberg is, but Long Feng probably sent him back to the prison cells. The front door is quicker, and you can get through there now that I'm here."

They then began to make their way down the path, when suddenly Toph turned and screamed, "WAIT! NOOO!!!"

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Iceberg watched as Aang made his way toward the center of the room. He knew Long Feng was going to be quite angry with him, so he decided to wait until Long Feng had cooled off to reappear.

He watched the whole scene play out in front of him. Aang had indeed angered Long Feng quite a bit, and was about to be crushed, when Toph saved him just in the nick of time. He then watched Katara turn Aang over on his stomach to start trying to heal the bruise on his back, only to have Aang stand up before she even got her water out of her pouch. It was as if Long Feng's blow had never happened.

He chuckled to himself, "Good ol' Bend-skin," he thought.

He then heard Gi Fong shout to the group and begin to direct them down the path. When he was sure that they were far enough down the path, he began to make his way back up the pillar to do what needed to be done.

One of Iceberg's more recent discoveries was something that had even shocked him. He still hadn't quite figured out how it worked, and he was a long way away from ever understanding how water could possibly have anything to do with it, but he had discovered that when healing techniques were applied to a certain part of the brain, they could cause memory loss. Iceberg was not quite sure about it, but then he thought to himself, "No, there is no other way."

In fact, there was another way. It was actually a lot more reliable than his memory loss technique, but he knew that it was simply out of the question. He couldn't handle the responsibility again.

As Iceberg made it to the top of the pillar, he was about to call out to the group. But then, he saw Long Feng begin to rise. He stumbled at first, but then, once he was up, he slipped out of the metal encasing that Toph had thought she trapped him in. He then started a mad dash towards Aang and the others.

After that, Iceberg knew what he had to do. Even if he could catch up to Long Feng first, there would be no way to hold him down and risk the memory loss technique. He knew what he had to do. He broke into a run after Long Feng.

In those moments, Iceberg thought about the future. He thought about the thousands of people he was about to liberate. He thought about all the peace that would come to the world after the Avatar escaped and continued on his way to destroy the Fire Lord. He thought about Toph. He thought about the bright future she would have, and how she would someday hold an even higher rank than he in the White Lotus society. He thought about all of these things and reassured himself that he could complete his task.

As he caught up with Long Feng, he launched himself toward him and sent them both tumbling over the edge.

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Toph just kept screaming and screaming.

"NO!! NOT HIM! NOT HIM!"

She began running, but she didn't know what she was running to. She fell to the ground, and wept upon the dust and stones that lay on the pathway.

"Toph! We have to get out of here now!" Katara yelled.

But Toph remained still. She couldn't move. She couldn't breath. She could only cry. It was the only thing that she had any control of.

She then felt a hand touch her back. She looked up, and there stood Aang. He sat down next to her and gave her a hug.

"Why is he hugging me?" she thought, "He doesn't know him. He doesn't know anything about him. Why is he hugging ME?"

He then released his embrace, and stood up, holding her hand. She then realized that she was now standing as well. They both began to walk back to the door to leave the hall for good.

By the time they all reached the door, Toph realized that she had stopped crying and was walking by herself. By the time they exited the hall, Toph was finally OK.

They walked into the next room and she bent down and ripped apart the metal. Gi Fong then pushed down on the dirt making a hole for the group to enter into. Once they were all in the tunnel, Toph felt for the original passage, and made a straight path toward it. Once they reached the first tunnel. They continued back to the camp.

Toph was in the tail of the group, erasing their trail, and her memories of the horrible, horrible place.


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

After reaching their camp, the group exchanged all of their individual stories among tears of joy for being reunited, and tears of sorrow for the loss of Iceberg. They all listened to Aang tell his story of his time spent in the prison and reassured everybody that Long Feng was the only person who knew that he was the Avatar and he had left no trace that could have convinced anyone else otherwise. After leaving their camp, the Gaang took Gi Fong to Iceberg's old shop in the coastal Earth Kingdom village where Gi Fong reopened the shop and operated the safe haven. Gi Fong also took on Iceberg's rank in the White Lotus and served the order until his own passing many, many years later.

Upon returning to camp that day, Toph had opened her knapsack only to find a rolled up piece of paper that she assumed had writing on it. She took it to Katara who read it to her. This is what it said:

"Dear Toph,

I am writing you this letter for you in case I do not make it back from the stronghold. I want to reassure you that all is not lost. Long Feng did not pass along the information about Aang's existence before you left, so your presence is still unknown. I wish you luck in the upcoming invasion, and I know that you will play an important role in the downfall of the Fire Nation. I wanted to tell you not to miss me, but to remember me. My body is gone, but my spirit lives on in you. One day, you WILL be the grandmaster of the White Lotus. I can sense it. No one else has the drive and the wisdom that you have, and no one else will be able to do it. I wish you luck in that esteem as well. Enclosed in this letter are instructions that you must not open until your 21st birthday. Uh oh, I forgot. You can't read. I apologize for that, and hopefully someone will be kind enough to let you know what this says.

Good luck,

-Iceberg"

Katara finished and handed the opened letter, and the sealed one back to Toph. Even though she could not read, Toph made sure that the two letters were always with her wherever she went.

As for the future of the Gaang itself, they went on undiscovered to invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun, but had not realized that the Earth King had revealed their entire plan to Azula back when the fire princess was posing as a Kyoshi warrior. The invasion was a failure, but the Gaang was able to escape the capital and make it to the Western Air Temple, where the next chapter of their adventure would await them.

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Gi Fong heard a knock at the door. A large, muscular man stumbled into the store. Something about the man seemed to strike a familiar tone with Gi Fong, but he had never met anyone that looked like this man. The man explained to him that he had just escaped from a Fire Nation prison and had hoped that the man would allow him a day's rest in his store.

Gi Fong agreed that the man should stay without any hesitation and immediately set to feeding and re-clothing him since the man's clothes were very torn and raggedy.

"I see you have a Pai Sho board. I'm pretty good myself. Would you like to play a game?" asked the man.

Gi Fong agreed and they both sat down. The man made his first move. Gi Fong was shocked when the man laid down a white lotus tile. Gi Fong played his required next move and play continued in the familiar pattern of the man laying a tile, and Gi Fong being forced into answering the man's move. The obvious thought crossed Gi Fong's mind, and he wondered whether this man was just randomly selecting the proper tiles, or actually trying to get Gi Fong's attention.

Gi Fong then remembered his duty to the order and stated the lock-phrase to see if the man would key it. "I see you favor the White Lotus. Not many still cling to the ancient ways."

"But those who do can always find a friend."

Gi Fong looked down at the completed White Lotus pattern on the board. He then looked up and immediately realized his foolishness in not recognizing the man earlier.

He jumped from his seat and nearly knocked the man to the floor with the force of his embrace.

"It's good to see you Gi Fong," the man said.

"Likewise Master Iroh."

About the author:

Jlandz09 dwells in a small Indiana town south of Indianapolis. He is a huge Avatard and is the owner and operater of the Avatar LAte Night Club on He does not own any part of Avatar, but is saving up to buy Season 2. He hopes that you have enjoyed his story, and if so desired, plans on expanding on the stories of some of the newly introduced characters, and obviously revisiting the more familiar, if his reading audience would so desire.

A/N: I really do hope you have enjoyed my story. I enjoyed writing it though, so that's all that really matters. I apologize if it ended too sadly, and I promise that if I do another one, it won't end sad like this one did. Review please.


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